Grand Rapids, MICHIGAN ¾ Fred Keller, Chairman and CEO of Cascade Engineering, participated in The Conference Board’s first CEO Forum for small and mid-size firms. This invitation-only event, held in New York, brought together more than two dozen CEOs to examine new strategies to generate growth in a slow-growth economy.

Cascade Engineering is a world leader in injection molding of systems and components for the automotive, container, furniture, and consumer products industries. The company has an unswerving determination to achieve worthy goals. The Cascade Engineering Family of Companies, which employs more than 1,200 people, reported 2000 revenues of $215 million.

Topics covered at this event included making and managing acquisitions, stimulating entrepreneurship and expanding globally. Also, findings were released from a new Conference Board study showing that many of America’s small and mid-size companies will acquire other firms and form partnerships with larger companies in order to survive and grow during the next five years. Nearly 40 percent plan to acquire other companies in the next five years.

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